Will the First Minister confirm how many public appointment vacancies have been withdrawn in Wales in the last 18 months, and in each case the reasons for the withdrawal?
Between December 2017 - 22 March 2019, 17 Welsh Government Ministerial public appointment vacancies were withdrawn. The reasons for each withdrawal are as follows:
· 6 appointment vacancies were withdrawn due to a lack of applications and will be advertised in the future and plans put in place to attract a wider field of candidates.
· 8 appointment vacancies were withdrawn due to a lack of applications, but subsequently re-advertised in order to attract a wider field of candidates and resulted in an appointment.
· 2 appointment vacancies were withdrawn due to Brexit uncertainty.
· 1 appointment vacancy was withdrawn due to a lack of applications and a decision has been taken not to proceed to fill the vacancy at this time.